Synthesis gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO) and molecular hydrogen (H.sub.2), is a valuable industrial feedstock for the manufacture of a variety of useful chemicals. For example, synthesis gas can be used to prepare methanol or acetic acid. Synthesis gas can also be used to prepare higher molecular weight alcohols or aldehydes as well as higher molecular weight hydrocarbons.
Perhaps the most common commercial source of synthesis gas is the steam reforming of coal or a hydrocarbon, particularly natural gas. In the steam reforming process, a mixture of water and the hydrocarbon are contacted at a high temperature, for example, in the range of about 850.degree. to about 900.degree. C., and typically in the presence of a catalyst, to form a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Using methane as the hydrocarbon, the theoretical stoichiometry for the steam reforming reaction is as follows: EQU CH.sub.4 +H.sub.2 O.fwdarw.3H.sub.2 +CO.
In prior steam reforming processes, because of the large amount of steam typically necessary to reduce coke formation, the ratio of H.sub.2 to CO produced is typically greater than 3:1 and can be 5:1.
The steam reforming reaction is a highly endothermic reaction, and, as discussed above, it produces a relatively high molar ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide when conventional processes are used. In some processes using synthesis gas, the excess hydrogen is not necessary and must be separated from the CO. For example, the manufacture of methanol or acetic acid from synthesis gas requires less than a 3:1 molar ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide.
There are other methods for preparing synthesis gas that are more attractive than the steam reforming reaction. Synthesis gas produced by the partial oxidation of methane, for example, is an exothermic reaction and produces synthesis gas having a lower ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide, according to the following equation: EQU CH.sub.4 +1/2O.sub.2 .fwdarw.2H.sub.2 +CO.
Synthesis gas can also be produced by the reaction of a hydrocarbyl compound such as methane with carbon dioxide. This reaction proceeds according to the following equation: EQU CH.sub.4 +CO.sub.2 .fwdarw.2H.sub.2 +2CO.
This reaction, like the steam reforming reaction, is endothermic; however, it produces a low ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide (1:1) and is very useful where there is an abundant supply of carbon dioxide, for example, at a refinery or near naturally-occurring CO.sub.2 reserves. Additionally, the reforming reaction using carbon dioxide can also be used in conjunction with the steam reforming reaction to adjust the ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide.
In all of the hereinabove described processes for preparing synthesis gas, it is advantageous to conduct the reaction of the hydrocarbyl compound with the source of oxygen in the presence of a catalyst. For example, catalysts for the steam reforming of methane and other hydrocarbons are commonly based on nickel as the active catalyst component. Vernon et al. in Catalysis Letters, Vol. 6, pages 181-186, 1990, discloses that methane can be converted to synthesis gas over catalysts such as palladium, platinum, or ruthenium on alumina, nickel on alumina, and certain transition metal oxides including Pr.sub.2 Ru.sub.2 O.sub.7 and Eu.sub.2 Ir.sub.2 O.sub.7. While Vernon et al. discloses that nickel on alumina catalysts are effective for the conversion of methane to synthesis gas using molecular oxygen, we have determined that such a catalyst, as well as commercial nickel-containing steam reforming and steam cracking catalysts, form coke and deactivate relatively rapidly. While the other catalysts described in Vernon et al., such as ruthenium on alumina, can be used to reform a hydrocarbyl compound such as methane in the presence of molecular oxygen, such transition metals are expensive and the transition metal catalyst based on ruthenium we evaluated exhibited lower conversion and lower selectivity to synthesis gas compared to the catalysts of this invention. Ashcroft et al. in Nature, Volume 352, page 225, 1991, describes the reforming of methane with carbon dioxide to form synthesis gas using catalysts such as palladium, ruthenium and iridium on alumina, as well as nickel on alumina.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,993 to Rostrup-Nielsen discloses the preparation of catalysts containing nickel for reforming gaseous or vaporizable liquid hydrocarbons using steam, carbon oxide, oxygen and/or air. The catalysts disclosed therein are prepared by coprecipitating a nickel salt, a magnesium salt and an aluminate to form a sludge, washing the sludge until it is substantially free of sodium and potassium, drying, and then dehydrating at 300.degree.-750.degree. C. The ultimate catalyst is formed after a calcination step at 850.degree.-1100.degree. C. The examples in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,993 show that compositions having a 1:1:2 or a 2:7:1 mole ratio of nickel, magnesium and aluminum, respectively, are suitable for convening naphtha to hydrogen-rich gaseous products using steam reforming.
In view of the great commercial interest in preparing synthesis gas by reforming readily available hydrocarbon feedstocks such as natural gas, and because of the benefits of conducting these reforming reactions in the presence of a catalyst that remains active for an extended period of use, there is a continuing need for new, less expensive, durable, coke resistant, more active and selective catalysts for the production of synthesis gas. The present invention provides such catalysts as well as a method for preparing synthesis gas using such catalysts.
The catalysts useful in the process of this invention can be prepared from a nickel-containing catalyst precursor compound having a structure that is referred to as "hydrotalcite-like." Hydrotalcite-like compounds are anionic clays, both natural and synthetic, that have a layered or sheet-like structure. For example, hydrotalcite, a naturally occurring mineral, has the chemical composition [Mg.sub.6 Al.sub.2 (OH).sub.16 ]CO.sub.3 .multidot.4H.sub.2 O, and is composed of molecular "sheets", each sheet comprising a mixture of magnesium and aluminum hydroxides. The sheets are separated by carbonate ions which balance the net positive charge of the sheets. In these "sheets," the magnesium and aluminum ions are 6-fold coordinate in hydroxide, and the resulting octahedra share edges to form infinite sheets. Water molecules, like the carbonate ions, are randomly located in the space between these sheets. Although pure hydrotalcite contains only magnesium and aluminum cations, a variety of naturally occurring, as well as synthetic hydrotalcite-like compositions are known. A general formula for these hydrotalcite-like compounds is: EQU [M.sup.2+.sub.(1-x) M.sup.3+.sub.x (OH).sub.2 ].sup.x+ (A.sub.x/n.sup.n-).multidot.mH.sub.2 O,
wherein x generally is a number between 0.1 and 0.50, M.sup.2+ is a 2+ metal ion, for example, Mg.sup.2+ and M.sup.3+ is a 3+ metal ion, for example, Al.sup.3+. The anion, A.sup.n-, can be one of a number of anions such as carbonate. Hydrotalcite-like compounds containing borate as the anion have been disclosed by Bhattacharyya et al., in Inorganic Chemistry, Volume 31, page 3869, 1992. Drezdzon, in Inorganic Chemistry, Volume 27, page 4628, 1988, discloses the synthesis of isopolymetalate-pillared hydrotalcites.
As described above, hydrotalcite-like compounds share the "sheet-like" structural characteristics, which is conveniently identified using x-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analyses. Hydrotalcite-like materials typically have a d(001) value of at least about 7.8 .ANG.. Based on the size of the anion used, the hydrotalcite-like molecules can have d(001) values up to 15 .ANG.. The d(001) value is indicative of the inter layer spacing present in the hydrotalcite-like materials.
Hydrotalcite-like compounds have been used as catalysts in a variety of applications, such as catalysts for aldol condensation, polymerization of alkene oxides, hydrogenation catalysts, dehydrogenation catalysts, etc., as described in F. Cavani et al., Catalysis Today, Volume 11, pages 173-301, 1991. Cavani et al. discloses that coprecipitated Ni, Al-based catalysts have been recognized as satisfying all the requirements for operation in steam reforming for methane production, and that coprecipitated catalysts calcined at 723.degree. K. (450.degree. C.) and reduced at 723.degree. K. were active in the 673.degree.-923.degree. K. (450.degree. C.-650.degree. C.) range for steam cracking of naphtha to produce methane. U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,753 to Broecker et al. discloses the use of a catalyst prepared by calcining [Ni.sub.5 MgAl.sub.2 (OH).sub.16 ]CO.sub.3 .multidot.4H.sub.2 O at a temperature in the range of 350.degree. C. to 550.degree. C., and which is subsequently reduced with hydrogen. Such a catalyst was used for the steam cracking of hydrocarbons having 2 to 30 carbon atoms at a temperature in the range of 300.degree. to 450.degree. C. to form methane. Ross et al., J. of Catalysis, Volume 52, pages 280-290, 1978, have examined the reaction of methane with water over a catalyst derived from Ni.sub.6 Al.sub.2 (OH).sub.16 CO.sub.3 .multidot.4H.sub.2 O at temperatures of 873.degree.-973.degree. K. (600.degree. C.-700.degree. C.). Kruissink et al., J. Chemical Society, Faraday Trans. I, Volume 77, 649-663, 1981, discusses the thermal treatment of nickel-containing compositions having x-ray patterns characteristic of the hydrotalcite-like minerals; and Hernandez et al., Thermochemica Acta, Volume 81, 311-318, 1984, investigated the thermal decomposition of hydrotalcite-like compounds of formula [Ni.sub.(1-x) Al.sub.x (OH).sub.2 ].sup.x+ X.sup.n.sub.x/n .multidot.mH.sub.2 O where 0.25.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.33 and X is carbonate and sulfate. Using x-ray diffraction studies, these researchers identified nickel oxide as the decomposition product at temperatures above 600.degree. C., whereas the corresponding spinel, NiAl.sub.2 O.sub.4, was formed at temperatures higher than 1000.degree. C. British Patent 1,342,020, discloses catalysts having chemical composition Ni.sub.6 Al.sub.2 CO.sub.3 (OH).sub.16 .multidot.4H.sub.2 O and Ni.sub.3 Mg.sub.3 Al.sub.2 CO.sub.3 (OH).sub.16 .multidot.4H.sub.2 O and discloses that they have an application as hydrogenation, dealkylation and cracking catalysts. Clause et al, J. of Catalysis, Volume 133, 231-246 (1992) discloses the preparation and analysis of nickel-aluminum mixed oxides obtained by thermal decomposition of hydrotalcite-type precipitates. This paper also discloses that nickel-aluminum mixed oxides resulting from the thermal decomposition of hydrotalcite-like coprecipitates have been studied for steam reforming and methanation reactions.